NEW YORK—The garish neon lime-green uniforms sported by Notre Dame on Thursday night surely made pub dwellers across Ireland spit up their Guinness.

After their 73-65 comeback win against Marquette on Thursday in the Big East Tournament, though, Mike Brey’s Irish won’t ditch these jerseys anytime soon. Athletes in every sport have the same rule: Never mess with a winning streak.

And now Notre Dame has won back-to-back games with wearing these adidas concoctions at Madison Square Garden. Whatever works, right?

It’s not just the uniforms, of course. The Irish didn’t panic when Marquette, the co-champs of the Big East regular season, jumped out to a 17-4 lead about nine minutes into the game. “Coach (Brey) just challenged us,” Jerian Grant said. “He even asked us if we were scared and we took that personally. The guys came out and said, ‘Either you can play now or go home,’ and we weren’t ready to go home.”

Notre Dame climbed back into the game, and in fact snagged a four-point lead entering halftime thanks to a balanced attack—Tom Knight had eight points, Grant had seven and Connaughton and Garrick Sherman had six each. “To be up four after being down 17-4, I’m ready to have a parade at halftime,” Brey said. “We’re in great shape.”

Sherman’s production was especially important because Jack Cooley, the Irish’s best player, played just 10 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. Sherman had 14 points in the regular-season finale against Louisville, but before that he had a grand total of four points in his previous four games. “Garrick Sherman was fabulous,” Brey said. “And I think we’ve found another weapon here in March.”

Marquette pushed back in the second half, often, but the Irish had every answer. Connaughton was the one with the cheat sheet; he knocked down four of his six 3-pointers after halftime and finished with a game-high 18 points. All 10 of his shots were from beyond the 3-point arc. “I don’t know that he took one dribble. That’s really good,” Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. “I don’t mean that in a negative way. I mean, somebody else created a shot for him. That means you were in rotation, and he was standing there, and he made six out of 10 balls.”

Notre Dame plays Louisville in the Big East semifinals Friday at 9 p.m. The first time the Irish played the Cardinals this season, of course, was a game nobody who watched will ever forget. That contest, played in South Bend, lasted five overtimes and was won by the Irish, 104-101.